


the green trio.

by suswriting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 90's Music, Absent Parents, Angst and Romance, Canon Compliant, Cedric Diggory Dies, Character Study, Draco Malfoy Redemption, Drug Dealing, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Long haul fic, Marauders, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Recreational Drug Use, Redemption, Slow Burn, Strong female friendships, Tragic Romance, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, a new trio, almosts, bad break ups, cedric x hufflepuff, deatheater parents, drugs as a coping mechanism, fred x slytherin, fred/oc/draco love triangle, george x ravenclaw, hogwarts got drug dealers, i made a lot of notes for this, implied wolfstar, mystery dad, the green trio, underrated characters are appreciated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27011269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suswriting/pseuds/suswriting
Summary: Becoming the school's drug dealers had, by all accounts, been a happy accident. Everything that came after was just... an accident.
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Original Female Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), George Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 43





	1. Sept 1st, 1994

* * *

**EXTENDED SUMMARY:**

People know of them, but they don't know them; That's the mystery of the green trio. As Hogwarts' only drug dealers, Cersei, Diana and Luka are kind of notorious at this point even if they aren't that well received amongst their peers otherwise.

They prefer to keep to themselves anyways, so who cares? They have more important things to focus on.

Like Luka's absent father.

Like Diana's Deatheater parents.

Like Cersei losing her first love.

Like the inevitable return of You-Know-Who.

Beginning at the start of Goblet of Fire, follow the Green Trio as the expansion of their 'business' brings them way more trouble than they were ever looking for.

* * *

With the clicking and chugging of the train’s engine and wheels, and the heavy patter of rain against metal, the young witch’s mumbled incantations could barely be heard. She waved her wand over the silent stereo system once again. From arguing with her mother over why she had to bring it to school to carrying it from home to the platform to the Hogwarts Express—it would not be for nothing and by Merlin’s word, Luka would make this stupid machine useable at common room parties.

Why for all magics advantages, it was one hell of an inconvenience when it wanted to be. How the hell did it interfere with technology? Wasn’t that just supposed to be something ghosts did?

“It’s okay if it doesn’t work.” Cersei said, leaning back against her seat with a pout. The parakeet perched on her shoulder nipped at her neck when he was forced to shuffle down, closer to the two cats watching his every move. “I’m—ow, Henry!—sure we could find something else.”

Luka didn’t look up. “Shut up, I’m trynna focus.”

She remembered the words etched in black ink on creased parchment only just weeks ago, the same words sent to the same two friends, Cersei and Diana, sat with her in this compartment. The promise of music at any and all hours. She wasn’t letting those plans fall through. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her heart, tightened her grip on her wand and spoke.

The stereo whirred. Cracks of static spilt through for a long second. And then—finally—music.

The smooth harmonies of Boyz II Men filled the space around them, overshadowing the sounds of the train and Luka pumped her fist in the air. She looked between both her friends, a triumphant grin breaking across her face as they clapped.

She set the stereo on the floor and relaxed, watching as one of the two cats—Salem, the black one—was momentarily distracted by the contraption. “The hat didn’t shout Ravenclaw for nothing.”

“I’m still not sure on that one,” said Diana with a snort.

“Well, we’re five years in and I haven’t heard word that it’s changed its mind yet.” She straightened the stereo with her foot. Salem jumped back. “Salem, the stereo isn’t going to hurt you—actually, has anyone ever switched houses? I mean, we were kids. People change.”

“I don’t think so.” Diana said.

“Don’t think people change or don’t think anyone’s switched houses?”

“I don’t think anyone’s switched houses. The Sorting Hat’s the most powerful Legilimens in the world.”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing though,” Luka said thoughtfully. “It’s a Legilimens, not a fortune teller.”

Diana gave a small shrug and Cersei, who’d been staring out the window, looked back to her friends and furrowed her brows. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be in the Prefect cart right now?”

Luka’s eyes widened, realization dawning on her. Right, that was something she was now. Something which she imagined was Flitwick’s veiled attempt to get her to participate more often.

Sharp as a Kneazle you are, he’d told her a handful of times before. I only wish you’d raise your hand more often in class.

She stood quickly to leave, but her path was at once blocked by the trolley woman. Curiously, the trolley woman glanced at the music player before blinking and staring at the girls.

“Anything from the trolley, dears?”

“Oh, yeah!” Cersei stood, taking the few steps to the threshold. Fluffy, the other cat—a sphinx belonging to Diana—watched intently.

Luka waited patiently as the brunette fished through her pockets for spare change as she made orders for a number of different sweets. The trolley woman handed them off easily, though Luka was having trouble keeping up with the order as Boyz II Men sang about fulfilling their lover’s needs. It was a great song, but she’d need to figure out a way to get the contraption to play specific tracks on command. The radio was absolutely not a reliable playlist.

After dropping a few galleons in the palm of the woman, Cersei sat happily back in her spot, dumping all her food out on the bench.

“You get any chocolate frogs?” Luka asked.

Rifling through her pile, Cersei let out a deep sigh. “Fuck.”

“’S alright. I’ll grab em as I go and bring some back after the stupid meeting.”

The trolley was parked outside the next cart, the woman repeating the same phrase to whoever resided inside as she always did. Luka came up behind, black hair falling in thick curls over her face as she counted out the sickles in her hand and waited for the student to make their order. Salem was at her feet having followed her out.

“Got any Liquorice Wands?”

Her nerves shuddered and froze entirely at the first note of the voice. The person with which it belonged to came to form in her mind, a memory of his laugh playing along to the music drifting out of the cart she was just in. Somehow she could still hear her heart beating out of her chest. She wasn’t even sure it was him and not his twin. Their voice alone wasn’t enough of a tell. How many sickles did she have again? She’d lost count—actually she’d lost the ability to count entirely. Slowly she lifted her head, flicking her hair out of her face.

The difference between the twins was so slight, and somehow she knew that not a meer metre away from her was none other than George Weasley waiting patiently for his candy. When he noticed her, he smiled.

She gave a small smile back and looked away.

“Something you need?” The trolley woman asked, turning to face her.

“Ch-Chocolate frogs, please!” Luka said, inwardly cringing at her over-enthusiasm. “Forgot to grab them before…”

“Dyer, right?”

Her gut clenched as she met George’s eye. She nodded.

“You and your friends got, er, the stuff for this year?”

She nodded again. “Yup. Cersei’s been growing ‘em all summer.”

“Wicked.” He said, his smile growing. “It’s made”—he glanced at the trolley woman handing Luka her frogs—“get-togethers all the more exciting.”

Again, she nodded. “Yeah. Agreed. Well, I’ll be seeing ya then.”

God, he must think she had a head injury.

Awkwardly and quickly, she paid and darted in the opposite direction to the Prefect cart, only slowing to check her reflection. It wasn’t the worst, but she certainly could’ve looked better.

She certainly could’ve acted better too.

* * *

“It probably wasn’t that bad.” Diana said as their carriage stopped and they readied themselves for a run to the main entrance of Hogwarts.

Cersei agreed. “And you have the rest of the year to talk to him again.”

“I just wish I didn’t shit myself every time he looked at me.” Luka said. “It’s like having a miniature stroke.”

“Him and Fred are fit as fuck.” Diana said, brows raised and launching herself out into the rain.

Luka did the same, Salem tucked in her robes, shouting, “You know?!”

As quickly as they could, they raced to the school, climbed up the steps and ducked inside. In such a short time, however, they still found their robes soaked and their shoes all caked in mud.

Wringing out her robe, Cersei made a disgusted noise. “Ugh—You could always get absolutely pissed if you need.”

Luka nodded as Salem climbed out of her soaked robes and sat comfortably on her shoulders. “Honestly, that might be my best bet—you have been growing the Magic Caps, right?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?”

The trio followed the crowd into the Great Hall, barely dodging Peeves and his free-falling water bombs. Water splashed against their robes and Cersei had to grab onto Diana to keep from slipping on the wet floors. As the crowds split off to their House tables, the three fifth year girls felt much less inclined than their peers to do such a thing.

It wasn’t shocking to anyone that they were all in different houses—Cersei in Hufflepuff, Diana in Slytherin, and Luka in Ravenclaw. Truly, even on a physical level, the trio looked slightly mismatched but each, with reasons of their own, had never understood the distinct sense of belonging their peers had achieved in their Houses until they’d befriended each other.

It was halfway through first year at the back of Potions class, shared between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, that Luka’s snide remarks finally found way to a pair of listening ears. Cersei had approached her after class eager to chat shit about Professor Snape. He’s a git, isn’t he? Not a week later, Cersei brought along Diana for lunch after an incident in Flying class. Apparently, it involved Cersei swinging upside from her broom but otherwise nobody was hurt. At the time, it’d all seemed like a happy accident that’d led to the trio forming, but according to Cersei, it’d been purposeful.

She’d actually spent weeks watching Diana and Luka, two plain-as-day outcasts, before finding a way to approach either of them. Nevertheless, they’d been friends ever since.

“Aspen!” called Cormac McLaggen from beside the Gryffindor table just as the girls were about to split off.

“If we ignore him, maybe he’ll go away.” Luka said.

Cersei clicked her tongue indignantly. “Not bloody likely.”

“Aspen, tell me,” he said as he got closer to Diana. “At the World Cup, who were you rooting for? The Irish, the Bulgarians, or the Deatheaters?”

After the events from two weeks ago, it seemed everyone was more on edge—the mere mention of Deatheaters had already drawn the attention of nearby students—and despite not saying anything, Cersei and Luka knew it must’ve been eating at Diana. Her parents might’ve been locked away in Azkaban, but the surname Aspen ensured their notoriety followed her everywhere.

Diana glared, hand on her wand. “Piss off, McLaggen.”

“But you haven’t answered my question.”

Cersei stepped between them. “Did you not hear her? She said piss off.”

Cormac grinned. “And what are you going to do if I don’t, Crane?”

Both Diana and Cersei were raising their voices and wands now, poising themselves for a fight as McLaggen stood there looking far too pleased with himself.

“10 points from Gryffindor,” Luka said, forcing herself into the middle and raising her voice for others to hear. Cormac fumbled for words when some of his housemates began to berate him.

“You can’t—”

She tapped the badge on her robes. “Would you like detention too?”

Begrudgingly, he returned to the Gryffindor table, complaining under his breath the whole way as Cersei and Diana taunted and waved him off.

“What a prat. I vote we blacklist him and his friends,” Cersei suggested. “Gryffindors are already obnoxious enough without Magic Caps in the mix.”

Hesitantly, the girls finally took a seat at the very end of their respective House tables, where there were fewer students, as they always did. It was easier to shout to one another that way or throw notes.

The Sorting Hat came and went as first years clamoured to join empty seats. Luka stared unamused at the enchanted ceiling and counted stars when a paper ball hit her head. She swivelled to glare at Cersei, but the rusted creak of the doors to the Great Hall distracted her. New Professor, she thought. Let me guess: Defence against the Dark Arts?

She was still quite bitter about Professor Lupin’s departure at the end of last year. Werewolf or not, he’d been her favourite so far. By far the most competent too, and with this year being her OWL year, the disappointment dug its talons in deeper. She hoped he was doing well—or at least as well as he could.

Hopefully Moody knew what he was doing. He certainly looked like he did what with his wooden leg and strange mismatched eyes.

“—the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.”

“The Triwizard what?” Luka mumbled, looking between her friends.

A mere muggleborn—presumably as she’d never known her father—Luka had always learnt as she went along. Every year came with new surprises. Cersei and Diana, on the other hand, were Purebloods and if not for them, Luka would’ve had to rely on books and the news entirely for explanations. During summer vacations, they’d been her only consistent communications with the wizarding world, but now as she looked to them for unspoken answers, both were watching their Headmaster intently.

As Dumbledore droned on, Luka understood why. She grew more enticed at the prospect of a tournament. Two guest schools. Mortal danger. Glory. A thousand Galleons.

“—no underage wizard—”

She huffed, throwing down her fork. “Shit.”

* * *

It was all anyone could talk about. The Triwizard Tournament. Not for the faint of heart and not for the weak of magic, but everyone seemed convinced that they were exactly the ideal candidate. Luka was mostly mad she didn’t have the slightest chance of taking home the grand prize and after listening to Whitney Burbank repeat the same question to every single person, including third years, who came close to her vicinity—Are you going to try putting your name in the goblet?—Luka rightfully felt the overwhelming need to drown herself. By dinner, she was surprised she hadn’t already.

She wheeled her way through the crowd and found her friends already waiting for her at the end of the Hufflepuff table.

“I’m starting to think Burbank can speak English, but not quite understand it.” Luka said, sliding into the seat beside Diana. Her friends fell unnaturally quiet. “Shit, did I interrupt something?”

Cersei made a sour face. “Nothing.”

“Cedric walked by.” Diana said.

Luka’s mouth formed a small O. “How was that?”

“Fine,” Cersei said, though her tone suggested anything besides that. “I don’t even care anymore.”

“Didn’t you break up with him?”

“That doesn’t mean he can find someone else.”

“You don’t even know if he has,” Diana said. “All he did was look at Cho.”

Luka furrowed her brows. “Cho Chang?”

“Yup.”

“If you want, I could hex her.” Luka offered.

It was her unfortunate luck to have both Cho and Marietta Edgecomb for roommates. Marietta more so than Cho as Marietta was particularly stuck-up and recently sour about losing out on being Prefect.

Cersei’s eyes lit up. “Can you?”

“We should—”

Yelling was spilling in from the Entrance Hall and at once, the three girls rose to see what the ruckus was about, only to find the crowd was too dense to push through. Luka being the tallest—although still of average height—got on her tiptoes. The most she saw was the towering figure of who must’ve been Mad-Eye Moody.

“Oi,” Cersei said, tapping a fourth year in front of her. “What’s happening?”

“Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret!”

“He better turn him back.” Diana said.

Luka snorted. “Yeah, he’s a lot harder to admire as a rodent, isn’t he?”

“Says the one who can’t look George in the eye.”

Other students trickled away from the crowd, creating a small opening to peer through, but by then, the most interesting events had already passed. There wasn’t a single ferret in sight and McGonagall stood there berating Moody.

Disappointed, the girls returned to their seats and watched as countless others found their own. The Great Hall was filling up quickly as usual.

“Oi! Cersei!” Someone called from down the Hufflepuff table. Justin Finch-Fletchley had gotten up, left his friends in the middle of the table and approached the trio. When he was standing before them, he spoke much quieter. “Have you got any of the, you know… with ya?”

“Right now?” Cersei said, staring at the boy like he’d absolutely lost his mind. “Yeah, let me just pull it out in front of our professors.”

Luka chuckled, but quickly shut herself up when Justin’s cheeks went rosy.

Beside her, Diana who looked as if she had a headache coming on, said, “We’ll meet you in the Hufflepuff Common room after dinner.”

Justin nodded, quickly apologized and went back to sitting amongst his friends, who’d been unabashedly staring. Truly nobody knew anything about what it meant to keep something on the low. After the whole “murderer on the loose” fiasco in the previous year, the last thing Hogwarts needed was to start administrating drug tests to every student—or even have its professor at all aware of drugs on school grounds.

Cersei swiped a finger across her forehead as if she were sweating. “Being the school’s only dealer is hard work.”

“Imagine how hard it’d be with McGonagall on your arse.” Luka said.

Cersei scrunched her nose in disgust. “McGonagall? No. Now if it were Dumbledore—”

“Stop.” Diana said, covering her laugh.

“—The things he could do with his wand—”

“STOP.”

Cersei took out her own wand, drawing a heart towards the Headmaster. She ducked quickly when Dumbledore’s head shifted towards them. Luka howled. Her gaze darted from the Headmaster, and casually swept over the Gryffindor table as she laughed along with her friends, a warm feeling bubbling in her chest.

It erupted when her dark eyes found blue staring back at her. Clearing her throat, she focused on the table instead.

“Don’t look,” she said, “But the twins are staring at us.”

Cersei spun right around to check. “Want me to call them over?”

Luka lifted her head immediately. “No!”

When she glanced at the twins again, they’d already turned around and gone back to chatting amongst their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so there's the first chapter. my goal was mostly to set up the girls and their place in the wizarding world, and then next chapter starts to get into more where the story is going—although there's still inklings in this one.
> 
> and just to put it out there, this story is going to be closely following canon. i kind of want this to read like it could actually be a spin-off to the books as a challenge to myself with writing and as a way to explore some beloved characters with a lot more depth (i.e. the twins, draco, cedric, etc) bc oh god ive written so many notes prior to writing anything rip
> 
> ANYWAYS, hope you enjoyed. chapter 2 should be up soon (it's actually done; i just have to edit)


	2. September 15th, 1994

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the girls get into the routine of selling and encounter potential business partners.

Becoming the school's drug dealers had, by all accounts, been just a happy accident, but the creation of the plant itself had been Cersei's passion project for the first half of their fourth year. As Luka could vividly recall, the girls had spent weekends in the Greenhouse up until Christmas where they grew acquainted with the likes of Neville Longbottom and various herbs until Cersei had finally been able to find the perfect combination. A combination that, unlike regular weed, negated the chances of experiencing a bad trip and threw in a slight amount of hallucinations just for the fun of it.

For a few short weeks after, it'd been entirely for the trio. They'd smoked in the courtyard at lunch, tucked away from the view of nosey professors and rats disguised as students, and gone to class giddy. During Divination, Magic Cap had turned quite useful. On multiple occasions, Trelawny had praised Diana for her ability to read the crystal ball so precisely and nobody was the wiser until rumours made their rounds of what the girls were on. It was only on the first trip to Hogsmeade after winter break anyone actually approached them.

"How much are you selling it for?" said a sixth year Slytherin.

"What?"

"Off it," he'd said. "Everyone knows what you lot have been up to."

Without missing a beat, Luka had answered, "Two galleons for a gram."

Like most things at Hogwarts afterwards, everybody knew—or rather everyone who wouldn't go snitching to the staff knew. There'd been a few veiled attempts to get the girls caught, but they had loyal customers and ears in every social group.

Besides, what teacher would really believe the trio were actually capable of doing what they were doing? Cersei was well liked and on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Diana had never set a toe in detention or spoken against a teacher, and Luka gave the appearance of a model student to the point of being made a Prefect.

It was the perfect alibi. 

Sitting on a stone ledge in the courtyard, Luka couldn't help but smirk at the thought as she counted out galleons _._ They'd made well over a thousand galleons in one semester last year; it'd been two weeks and they'd already made over a hundred.

"Someone's coming," Diana alerted and Luka promptly slid the money into an enchanted coin purse, dropping it in the inside pocket of her robes. _The perfect crime._

As the person got closer, Cersei stood, "It's Seamus."

Luka looked up. "Honestly I thought he forgot."

"'Ello there, ladies!" the Gryffindor said, stopping in front of them. "Business going well for ya? I'm fourth year now, ya know?"

Luka sighed, a hint of amusement laced through her breath. "We know, Seamus."

"I can buy from you now, can't I?"

"We were hoping you would." Diana said.

When they'd started selling, the girls had laid out rules for themselves, barring anyone under fourth year from purchasing Magic Cap for obvious reasons (getting eleven year olds high wasn't exactly something they wanted to partake in). The Gryffindor standing in front of them had been one of many third years who'd tried to find a way around it and failed.

Seamus grinned. "Right, how much can 4 galleons get me?"

"Two grams," Cersei said, reaching into her robes and pulling out three baggies. "For you, we'll make it three."

His smile grew, stretching from ear to ear, as he passed her his coins. "Have you ever thought of having a hand in Gryffindor?" he said, nervously glancing at Luka before shifting his attention back to Cersei. "Some of 'em just don't trust the lot of you. Reckon they'd feel better buying in the common room. Less of a chance of being caught, ya know?"

"Give us the Gryffindor password then."

"Now I can't go doing that. You'd draw too much attention in Gryffindor. It'd be a right shame if you got caught." He shoved his Magic Cap into his pocket. "I better get going then. Be seeing you."

From where Luka sat, she swore she saw Cersei's eyes twinkle. "Say hi to Dean for me."

A look of annoyance flashed across Seamus' face. He smiled quickly to cover it. "Ai, I will."

Luka waited, watching the boy walk away, and when he was out of earshot, she shook her head. "You do realize Seamus has a crush on Dean, right?"

Cersei furrowed her brows, deep creases carving themselves into her skin. "What?"

"Yeah. And I'm pretty sure Dean likes him back."

"Are you sure?"

Diana snorted. "To be fair, I don't think _they've_ realized it—and he's right, by the way."

"He is," Luka said. "It's the one house we don't have consistent customers with—aside from Seamus now, and Fred and George. Everyone else only comes to us for parties."

Cersei huffed, but quickly looked to her friends with eyebrows raised. "You think Potter would sell for us?"

"You hate Harry."

"I do," she shrugged, probably recalling the multiple occasions she'd badmouthed the boy after a Quidditch match, "but honestly with his long hair, he's starting to grow on me."

Diana nodded. "Agreed."

"He _would_ bring up sales," Luka said after a moment. "Maybe we should ask."

* * *

They didn't end up asking Harry Potter for a hand. The Boy Who Lived had better things to do, and the girls couldn't bargain their business on a newfound, erm, admiration for the boy over something that could easily be changed with a pair of scissors. One haircut, and both Cersei and Diana would be back to asking what the hell was so special about Potter.

Luka could understand their annoyance even if she didn't partake in it. She felt bad for him more than anything else and Harry was probably just as annoyed by the fact that everyone always had his name in their mouth.

The rest of the afternoon had been quite quiet. The girls had gathered in the Hufflepuff common room and chatted about, making a sale here and there, before and after dinner until it was getting dangerously close to curfew. Knowing that she was supposed to be patrolling the halls, Luka walked Diana down to the Slytherin common room and then went on her way.

Of all her new responsibilities, hallway patrol had quickly become her favourite. It really was just roaming the castle without having to shimmy her way through packs of students at every corner. She could prance straight down the middle of the corridor or set up a dungbomb in a classroom for it to go off the next day. She could chat with the ghosts or wandering pets. There were too many advantages without anyone to bother her and it was on her second night she'd decided she'd use her time to go about finding secret passages.

_Thank you, Flitwick._

She started her climb up the Grand Staircase, hoping for the stairs themselves to decide where she'd go tonight. Directions were not her strong suit so it was pointless for her to choose at all.

As she skipped over a step, a brown spot dashed to the landing above her. Mrs. Norris sat eying her as Filch joined at her side. He stopped, watching Luka suspiciously.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he shouted.

She pointed to the badge on her robe, moving closer. "I'm patrolling tonight."

He huffed, complaining under his breath and starting to walk by her.

"Wait, hold on," she said. "Does Mrs. Norris like treats?"

The same suspicious look returned to his face. "You wanting to poison my cat, do yah?"

She shook her head. "What? Jesus, no."

From inside her robes, Luka pulled out the bag of cat treats and shook a few out into the palm of her hand. "Here. You can give them to her if you want."

"No, I don't want to give them to her!" he screamed, knocking the treats out of her hand and sending them flying down the stairs. "Now I have to sweep that up! Students... Privileged students always trying to pull one over my eyes... I'll be in need of a dustpan. Can't be touching poison..."

Luka watched dumbfounded as the grubby janitor stalked away, still complaining loudly and unable to see that Mrs. Norris had bent to sniff a stray treat and picked it up with her teeth before following after him. _Well, a cat is a cat_ , Luka thought as she continued on.

She admired the portraits decorating either side of her and tried to move as quietly as possible. Most of the painted images were sound asleep; those that weren't whispered to one another, dealt cards across a table, or tiptoed carefully across canvases to get back to their rightful homes. Luka nearly snorted as she came across a standing snoring knight.

"Psst."

She turned, searching for a wandering student.

"Girl. Bloody hell—over here!"

She swivelled again and came face to face with the portrait of an older wizard with a receding hairline and a pocket watch.

"Yes?"

"Ah, I thought I was seeing correctly," he said to her. "A young Ravenclaw prefect. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant."

She gave him a small smile. "Were you a Ravenclaw yourself?"

"Were? I am! Through and through!" Three frames down, a woman shushed them and the man's face went pink. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Basil Fronsac, and you are?"

"Luka Dyer. I'd shake your hand, but that'd prove rather difficult."

Basil laughed. "Right, you are."

"Say Mr. Fronsac," she said, looking behind her to make sure Filch was nowhere near. "You wouldn't happen to know the locations of some of the secret passages?"

"Curious, you are, of course, but you wouldn't be looking to cause trouble with them, would you?"

Luka smirked. "Do I give you that sort of impression?"

Piecing together his verdict, Basil squinted and glanced over her as if there were any sort of tell in her appearance.

There was nothing particularly special to her face—at least in her mind, there wasn't. Dark eyes, dark unruly hair (although she had invested in some necessary hair products with her drug money that made it more manageable), and a snub nose. Most of her looks had come from her mother, although there was a strange edge to her face where her mother was much softer. Luka assumed it was the hints of her father peaking through, but what did she know? It's not like she had a reference photo.

She sighed and began walking away. "I'll be on my way then."

"Wait!"

Luka took a step back, eyebrows raised.

"Well, alright, alright," he said with a dramatic wave of the hand. "As it so happens, I'm actually guarding a passage. I'll open it this once for you, but next time do use the password."

"And what would that be?"

" _Studious Success_."

As the portrait swung open for her, revealing a smaller corridor, she smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Fronsac. I appreciate it."

"Right, you should, dear girl."

With a small click, the opening closed behind her and darkness enveloped her. She pulled out her wand, mumbled _Lumos_ and exhaled deeply as the tip lit up.

She walked casually, dragging her fingertips across the wall and making note of the odd details left behind by students—most of which was simple graffiti. Plain stick figures danced gleefully and letters bounced in their spot forming names and signatures.

Magic amazed her in the smallest of ways. _Muggle graffiti could never do this_ , she thought as she stepped closer to read a few names. There was a whole history of students like herself just laid out for her to discover. Some names she recognized as people who'd only been a few years older than her, but others were exceptionally faded. She stretched, going on her tiptoes to read more.

_The Marauders were here._

"Interesting..." She whispered, her hand falling on the silver dog-tags hanging around her neck. Her thumb ran over the portion of its engraving that read MARAUDER.

As a child, she'd invented so many stories of who her father could be; the dog-tags made it easy for her to think of him as a solider lost too soon to the cruelty of war since her mom never offered anything to help or hurt the theory. Anytime Luka asked, her mom either shifted away from the subject or said he was just someone she once knew, and the older Luka got, the more taboo her father became—especially when her mom got a new boyfriend. The dog-tags were all Luka had.

Sometimes she wondered if it was healthy to wonder so much. He'd abandoned her after all and finding him was nothing short of a dream.

 _It's just a word_ , she thought as she fell back on her heels, _Marauder is a common English word. It's not specific to wizards._

"BOO!"

She stumbled backwards in the dark, the rough jolt of a hand on her shoulder causing her to snuff out her light and immediately scream out, "STUPEFY!" at her attacker.

There was a series of pained grunts, complaints and hurried footsteps from two separate voices. Luka lit her wand again and so did someone else.

Beside her was a wide-eyed Fred Weasley and on the ground a few feet in front of her was a dazed George clutching his side. The former opened his mouth and began to say something, but she ignored him and rushed over to George.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," she said, her words falling out instinctively as she put his arm over her shoulders and tried to help him to his feet. "I didn't—why did either of you think that was a good idea?"

Fred joined on George's other side, retrieving his fallen wand. "We didn't think you'd attack us!"

"Well, you thought wrong 'cause I thought you were going to attack me!"

"Oi." George mumbled.

"What attacker says 'Boo'?"

"A sick one!"

George raised his voice. "Oi—ow."

A silence fell over the group. In the distance, they could hear footsteps echoing through the Grand Staircase and in their direction.

"It's Filch." Luka said as her and Fred helped George shuffle forward.

"Yeah, we saw that earlier." Fred said.

"How he knocked your hand away." George added, a pained note to his voice.

"Rude git, isn't he?"

"What were you even trying to do?"

Luka sighed. "I just wanted to give Mrs. Norris a treat—Here! Hide here."

Together, they tucked themselves away into a shadowed corner and turned off their lit wands as Basil Fronsac's portrait creaked open and Filch poked his head through.

Luka pressed herself firmly against the wall, acutely aware of George Weasley at her side and the way his arm was still around her shoulders. When Filch's complaints were shut out by the closed portrait, she used the excuse to rush out and re-lit her wand.

"It's clear." she said with a deep exhale.

The twins looked out into the corridor and then completely remerged, eying Luka the same way Seamus had done earlier on. Like they weren't understanding something.

She squinted. "What?"

"How come you didn't rat us out?" George asked, still leaning on his brother for support.

"What?"

"You're a Prefect." Fred said as if it was the only necessary explanation.

"And?"

George half-shrugged. "McLaggen's been telling everyone you docked points from him for no reason."

"Says you're worse than Percy 'pparently. We didn't think that was possible."

Sparks flew from Luka's wand. Her anger boiled at the centre of her stomach, transforming into a volcano ready to erupt.

"That fucking prick," she said, gritting her teeth. "I docked points from him because he was being an ass to my friends. It was his own fault. We told him to piss off."

The twins looked at each other, reading each other's mind as they always seemed to do. Watching them, Luka wondered what it was like to share so much to the point where even thoughts were hardly private. They only ever looked like they enjoyed it, but it had to get annoying at some point.

"That makes a lot more sense." Fred said.

George nodded. "It'd probably hurt the business if you were a pratty Prefect, wouldn't it?"

"Which reminds us—"

"—we have a proposition—"

"—for you—"

"—and your friends."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaannnddd there's chapter 2. i'm trying to nail the different ways character's speak but i am human and will fuck up even with my friends reading ahead of time and giving me feedback.
> 
> if you found this through tiktok, HELLO WOW HOW ARE YOU YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO LUKA'S DAD IS but im gonna be real im not really treating it as a secret for the reader; it's more about the emotional toll her father has on her. we just love daddy issues.
> 
> anyways hope you enjoyed that. any thoughts and feedback are welcome. might link some playlists at some point bc those do currently exist ha.


	3. September 16th, 1994

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the girls find sellers for gryffindor.

Luka liked to believe she was capable of loving every creature presented to her, but Blast-Ended Skrewts were making that quite hard to stick by. Their growing shells looked like translucent skin draped and stretched over their bodies as they squirmed over each other, their tails shooting out sparks every few minutes. She had to resist the urge to kick at the crates to keep them from climbing up the sides. Watching them was enough to make the hairs on her arms stand on end and the last thing she wanted was one of those things crawling up her leg when she wasn’t looking.

“Wonderful creatures, aren’ they?” Hagrid said, brimming with a childlike joy as he turned his big head to see that Diana and Cersei had busied themselves with Fang. The boarhound had thrown himself on his side to welcome a belly-rub. “Real beauties.”

“It’s really impressive that you bred them yourself.” Luka said, still at her professor’s side.

A smile peaked through from under the half-giant’s beard. “The trouble now is findin’ out wha’ the bloody things eat. They’ve started hackin’ away at each other.”

The young Ravenclaw scratched at her lower lip, absentmindedly peeling away some dead skin as she often did when she was thinking. She leaned over the crate. A small blast shot up, searing the tip of her nose.

“If they only eat each other,” she said, scrunching her face and taking a step back. “Why don’t you try feeding them manticore meat? That’s half of their genetics, right? Actually, that might be hard for you to—”

“Why, why didn’ I think of that?” Hagrid half-shouted. “I migh’ know a fell’r, actually. I’ll ‘ave ter be sending outta owl then.” Lifting the lid, he covered the Skrewts up and then looked at Luka with great consideration. “Say, yeh three wouldn’ be eatin’ lunch in the forest again, would yeh?”

Looking out at the first line of trees of the Forbidden Forest, Luka could imagine their faded outlines. Her, Cersei and Diana. Eleven years old, just weeks into their newfound friendships, waltzing into the forest with the lunches they’d piece together from what they could grab off the table because the Great Hall was always loud with taunts and teases from their peers, particularly directed at Luka and Diana. The former for her overbearing excitement and the latter for her last name. Whatever was in the forest, they thought, couldn’t be as bad as the kids in their year.

She could see them. So tiny sitting at the base of a tall tree.

She still hadn’t told them about Fred and George and their little ‘proposition’. Not being much of morning person, she hadn’t the slightest bit of energy to entertain such a discussion so early, but for no reason besides the strange tick of time counting down to after her Potions class, the more the whole thing felt like a strange secret she was working her way up to revealing.

She shook her head, staring at Hagrid. “What makes you ask that?”

“Well, yeh haven’ been comin’ ‘ere ter eat since last ‘ear and if yer were eatin’ there at eleven, fif’een don’ sound like a far stretch, do it?”

“We’ve been eating in the Great Hall.” Luka told him, feeling a small pang of guilt for leaving Hagrid alone at lunch. He’d been the one to find them in the forest and offer them his hut as an alternative to the Great Hall. “It’s not so bad anymore.”

Turning ever so slightly, he gazed at the two other girls nearby and leaned down to Luka, whispering, “How’s Cersei takin’ seein’ Cedric again?”

Luka nearly snorted, knowing the groundskeeper was evenly concerned and nosey for gossip. “She won’t admit she misses him.”

“‘Course not, ‘course not… Pride and all. S’damned thing… Wha’ abou’ Diana? Anyone botherin’ her?”

“Some people, yeah, but not as many as before.”

“Yeh let me know if they do.” He clapped his meaty hands together. “Alrighty then, I’d’ve best go enquire abou’ some manticore meat.”

Luka waved him off, laughing as Fang jumped up and scrambled to follow his owner back to their hut. _Well_ , she sighed, _now or never—Merlin, it’s really not even a big deal._

“Should we head back?” she asked as she approached her friends.

Diana checked her enchanted watch, still sitting on the ground. “In three minutes.”

Picking at her lips again, Luka plopped to the ground and crossed her legs. She looked towards the trees again. “I spoke to Fred and George.”

Cersei’s face lit up. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, when?” Diana asked, eyes wide.

“Last night.” Luka said. “They found me in a secret passage.”

Mischief pulled at the corners of Cersei’s lips. “Oh, so _George_ came up to _you_.”

The young Ravenclaw cringed, recalling how she’d blasted the boy back with her wand. Part of her was glad her friends weren’t there to see it, though as she recounted the entirety of the events to them, she realized it didn’t matter; their imaginations were enough. Diana nearly fell backwards cackling while Cersei tried and failed to stifle her own laughter.

“Poor George!” Diana barked out.

“Imagine what she’d do if she didn’t like him!” said Cersei.

Luka tried to keep a sour expression, but she could feel her lips twitching with the threat of a smile. She really was such an unfortunate human being.

“Do you _want_ me to continue the story?”

Diana laughed again. “There’s _more?_ ”

“I swear!” Luka nearly shouted, trying to keep her tone even. It shook anyways. “I’m trying to tell you guys that they want to sell to Gryffindor!”

A small explosion sounded from the nearby crates and in the second of silence following, Luka had already run through every plausible scenario. Anxiety bounced carelessly around her skull like a rubber ball ricocheting off a wall.

Cersei blinked. “Are you serious?”

The ball dribbled, tapering off as she reminded herself who she was speaking to. “Yeah… They figured we needed a hand.”

“I mean, we do need someone,” Diana said, raising her brows in consideration.

The Hufflepuff of the group was less inclined. “No offence, but they’d be the first bloody people to get caught and then we’d be next.”

“I don’t think they’d rat us out.”

“But if they get caught, all our professors would find out what’s going on and eventually they’d figure out it’s us. We’d be fucked.”

In her head, Luka knew Cersei wasn’t wrong. Trouble at Hogwarts was a compass and the needle always pointed to the Weasley twins. They were always the first questioned even when they weren’t to blame. Slammed so often into detention, plaques made of coal bearing their names had been nailed onto their designated seats.

In her heart, logic disregarded, she couldn’t deny the idea of working with George Weasley magically bred a small pearl-white butterfly in her chest. She wanted a reason to speak with him, otherwise she doubted she’d ever pluck up the courage to do it herself.

“What did you say to them?”

“Nothing.” Luka said, shoving away her thoughts. “I told them I’d talk to you guys first.”

Diana nodded, repeating that she saw no problem, that there was no one else they could use before looking pointedly at Cersei in anticipation.

Cersei was silent, her honey-coloured eyes glazed over until finally she clicked her tongue impatiently and let out a dramatic sigh. “Tell them to meet us later. I’ll bring some smokes.”

* * *

She’d mentally prepared herself the entire afternoon. When the last bell rang, her plan was to find the twins, approach them on her own accord, and tell them they were to meet her and her friends in the secret passage tonight—and she was to do so by herself. Whether it was because she’d be mortified if her friends saw her chicken out or she had something prove to herself, she wasn’t sure. She only knew that she needed to go up to George Weasley on her own. She needed to know she could do that.

Of course she assumed Fred would be with him, but he only scared her in the way most people did, which was a healthy amount. It was nothing she couldn’t hide behind callous eyes.

George on the other hand… George was different. The twins had always fascinated her, finding a great amount of delight in their troublemaking, but George was different. There was something… contained, softer even about the way he held himself. It was something Luka had only noticed last year when the invitations to common room parties piled up like adverts at the back of the Daily Prophet.

Nights would start off strong. The twins would be absolute equals in energy, forcing shots of Firewhiskey down each other’s throats and entertaining everyone in the room like ginger jesters in front of the royal court, and then when numbers would dwindle and nobody was sober enough to see, George would slip away—not in a literal sense. He never left early, but she could see it in his eyes, how they almost… frosted over like glass in the winter, and in his smile, how his lips were only turned up at the corners out of habit. The _George Weasley_ slipped away.

Nobody ever seemed to notice except Luka. For her, it was like suddenly becoming conscious of your own breath, how your chest heaves forward and back with every intake, pressing against the fabric of your clothes. Every time she saw George, she made note of it. How he would slip away and how it wasn’t solely reserved for the slow death of a party.

He slipped away at dinner, in the halls… Luka would catch her attention drifting and there he’d be… existing on a sort of default setting.

Sometimes she believed she could understand; other times she thought herself insane for thinking that. After all they’d only shared a handful of words with each other, so who was she to claim such a thing? She didn’t know him.

She wanted to though. She really wanted to.

Nearing the Great Hall, she took a deep breath and stood at the edge of the doors, scanning the Gryffindor table for the two redheads seated side by side.

They were located close to the middle, heads bowed over what looked like a piece of parchment in extreme concentration, and as Luka’s foot crossed over the threshold, Angelina Johnson and some of the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team strolled through.

“There they are! Fred!” the tall girl said, waving at the twins. “George!”

There was a slight second where Luka simply stood there, trying to will herself forward before she turned and disappeared down the hall.

All that preparation for nothing. All that affirming bullshit lost. She cursed her nerves for being fickle instruments without a proper tune to play and she cursed herself as she mindlessly stomped up the Grand Staircase towards Ravenclaw Tower.

“Oi, Dyer!”

She whirled around, pausing on a landing. The twins were weaving their way through passing students towards her. Her heart seemed to twirl in its place.

“Ah, there she is,” greeted Fred, stopping in front of her.

“Avoiding us, were you?” George said, leaning against the railing beside her.

She nearly said yes, feeling the word crawl up her throat. Instead she crossed her arms and, with a small cough, cleared it away. “No.”

“Just practicing your vanishing act then?”

“Seems it could use a bit of work.”

Heat was building in her cheeks, tinting them with red stains at the apples.

“I spoke with Cersei and Diana,” She said, forcing herself to meet their gaze. Her breath nearly hitched noticing the teasing twinkle in George’s baby-blues. She blinked and looked to Fred instead. He had the same sort of look in his eyes but was so much more bearable to focus on. “They said to meet us later in the secret passage.”

George snorted. “Swear you won’t Stupefy me again?”

She smirked, trying once more to meet his stare. “Swear you won’t sneak up on me?”

“No promises made then.”

* * *

“Bet she’s lost.” Cersei said, eying the entrance of the secret passage.

“She’s probably just late,” Luka said, sitting with her back pressed against the graffitied wall she’d been inspecting the night before. “Should we just talk to Fred and George without her?”

Cersei thought for a moment and then gave an unbothered shrug. “Well, she didn’t care earlier so.”

As if on cue, light poured through the corridor and two shadows stretched across the walls, announcing the arrival of the twins. They greeted the two girls with their usual happy faces and took seats on the floor with them.

“Where’s the third?” George asked, looking curiously over their heads to see if Diana was hidden somewhere further in the dark.

Cersei waved her hand dismissively. “She should be here soon. We can smoke while we wait.”

Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a joint. Luka was barely conscious of the lighter she herself had taken out from her own pockets and passed to Cersei, having swiftly become more conscious of George shifting closer. She knew it was only to make passing the joint around easier, but it still made her fumble and drop the lighter when it was returned to her.

“Fucking shit,” she said, grabbing the stupid thing and slipping it back in her robes. She’d planned on skipping out on smoking tonight, but when Cersei passed the joint to her first, hesitantly wagging it like it was a question she knew Luka would answer to, Luka held it between her two fingers and took a long drag. Without even looking, she passed it to George, feeling his fingers briefly graze hers.

She choked on the smoke and sent herself into a coughing fit.

“S’Alright now, get it out.” Fred said, laughing.

“Trying to,” Luka mumbled, feeling her face burn up. She really hated the sensation of smoking. “May the power of Christ compel me.”

“What?”

She shook her head. “It’s, uh, it’s from a Muggle movie—uh, Cersei, didn’t you want to ask Fred and George something?”

“Right,” Cersei said, noticing the pleading look in her friend’s eyes. She shifted her focus to the twins. “Soo…why do you want to sell for us?”

George raised a brow. “Is this supposed to be like a job interview?”

“Absolutely.”

The twins glanced at each other; their expressions unreadable as they seemed to be making a silent agreement amongst themselves.

“We were conned out of our life savings.” Fred said finally, an edge of directionless anger in his words as he seemed to fight back the urge to say more. Luka wished he would; her own muscles tensing with rage for them.

Shock etched out a crease between Cersei’s brows. “Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately.” George said, taking another drag as the joint came back to him. Luka couldn’t help but admire the sharp edges of his jaw as he did. “We need a way to make it back if we want to be able to open a joke shop after graduation.”

“Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.” Luka said under her breath.

“You’ve heard?”

She could see Cersei smirking at her in her peripherals.

“I’ve, um, I’ve just,” Luka stuttered out, knowing her face was turning red. “I’ve heard other students talk about it. I thought about ordering some dung bombs and, you know, showing support for, um, small businesses, I suppose.”

“Really? We didn’t really take you for the pranking type.”

She shrugged, finding a new fascination with her hands. Her mom had always said she had small fingernails.

“Luka’s full of surprises,” Cersei said enthusiastically. The prefect could only silently beg her to stop. “She’s the one who set those alarm clocks to go off in Snape’s class last year and charmed Binns’ desk to sing every time a ghost was nearby.”

“Seriously?” Fred said, slightly offended. “We got blamed for those!”

“Happy to know who actually did it though. Bloody brilliant.”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Thanks—that reminds me though. Cersei, wasn’t that something you were worried about?”

“Oh, right.” the Hufflepuff rolled her eyes. “That’s kind of a problem. You two are always the first to get caught or blamed.”

“We’ll treat it like our Wizard Wheezes.”

“Mum’s the word. We’ll be discreet.”

“That’s not enough.” Cersei said, squashing the stub of Magic Cap with her foot. “I need to know that if you get caught, the professors won’t find out where it came from.”

Both boys nodded without a second’s worth of hesitation and spoke at the same time, “We solemnly swear.”

Luka fixed her attention on Cersei, trying to graze anything from her expression, but the other brunette was always harder to read when in the company of strangers. In some ways, Luka envied how easily her friend could mask her own feelings as if she were McGonagall transfiguring a toothbrush into hedgehog, but other times Luka knew it was better to simply appreciate the fact she knew there was a difference at all between the Cersei she and Diana knew, and the Cersei others paid attention to.

“How come you’ve never taken any credit?” George asked, leaning towards Luka and snapping her out of her thoughts with his sudden proximity.

She blinked, her thick eyebrows drawing closer together. It wasn’t something she’d never asked herself. She’d mulled over it in the comfort of her four-poster bed back in her dorm when the twins had been blamed for the alarm clocks. Part of it she knew was because she didn’t want the consequences that came with it, but the notoriety, the popularity she could’ve indulged in had she come forward and said it’d been her? Why had she denied herself that? Attention was after all a human desire, and Merlin knew Luka craved it enough for more than ten people at the very least.

Truthfully, she thought it was because she’d always hoped someone would figure it out.

“Dunno.”

The creak of Basil Fronsac’s portrait opening cut him off before George could make any attempts to pry something out of her and the group snuffed out the lights her and Cersei had set up earlier. On one hand, she was happy for the interruption and the other, incredibly disappointed.

As the portrait closed behind the newest arrival, a wand lit up and casted soft shadows on Diana’s face. Her footsteps echoed in the newfound silence.

“It’s just me,” she said.

“Are you a hallucination?” Luka said curiously, relighting the area. Sunspots were beginning to dance around her vision.

“I’m not—wait, did you smoke without me?”

Cersei clicked her tongue. “You were late. Where were you?”

“Like you’ve never been late.” Diana fired back, plopping down beside the Hufflepuff. “Did you bring more?”

A broad smile split across Fred’s face. “Yah, did you?”

Luka squinted. She couldn’t tell if it was just her natural paranoia and suspicion of people kicking in, but the way Diana had bypassed the question struck her. With a slight headshake, she filed it away in the recesses of her brain. The corridor was starting to fill with drug-induced hallucinations of clouds and grass sprouting up from the floors.

“Yeah, I’ve got…” Cersei reached into her robes, shutting one eye in concentration. “…twwwooo more. We can celebrate our new business partners.”

“Brilliant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i told myself i'd post after us election results came in so here we are fellas!!  
> i just wanted to say thank you to anyone who commented and left kudos. i really appreciated it more than i can say  
> anyways as usual, leave me your thoughts, questions--OH, also if you've got any fanfiction recommendations, i'd love to see them. i've recently been re-reading isolation and i'm almost done so i'm gonna need something after (especially anything about remus or regulus black bc ive been thinking about those two a lot lately)  
> the next chapter is gonna be from diana's pov so we're gonna see what she's been up to, and then chapter 5 will be from cersei's. i'm excited about it honestly. i wrote a two part cersei-focused chapter that comes quite a bit later into the story and im just... the tea fellas  
> hope you enjoyed this one and i'll be back with a new chapter sometime soon. this fanfic is my nano project for november so i'm hoping to get quite a bit done. see yall soon~


	4. September 1st 1994... Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where's diana been off to?

_September 1 st 1994… Again_

As she waited outside the hospital wing, she’d considered the irony of it. Not a year later she was once again visiting Draco because his own foolishness had gotten him into trouble—except this time she had no ulterior motive to justify what she was doing. She wasn’t sneaking her way to him in some deluded effort to help Hagrid; this time she was genuinely concerned for his wellbeing, remembering the frantic slip of her words to Luka before as they stood at the back of a crowd while Draco was tossed around in the form of ferret.

_He better turn him back._

She hadn’t meant to say it out loud and was thankful her friend had just taken it as a surface level admiration of Draco’s unfortunate good looks. For the meantime, that was all she wanted anyone to think it was and it was best no one knew she had formed a soft spot for Draco Malfoy of all people.

Diana waited, watching the doors leading into the hospital wing and hoping his friends would leave soon. Not a minute later did the loud creak of wood grant her the window she needed. As Crabbe and Goyle sauntered off, Diana seized her opportunity.

She slipped inside quietly, moving passed the rows of beds until she found Draco sitting up on one, his feet dangling off the side, with an annoyed look on his face. When he spotted her standing there, he glared, and she knew exactly what would come out his mouth.

“Come to laugh at me, have you?”

Draco had always been predictable. Even as children, Diana could accurately guess his moves like he was a simple pawn on a chessboard—and it wasn’t even because they were particularly close back then at all; they weren’t.

Their relationship as children never extended passed the occasional dinner between rich pureblood families who also happened to be Deatheaters. Those dinners back then had read like coworkers at the annual office party and young Diana had always been made to play with the other kids while the adults discussed adult things. She hadn’t known then what that entailed, but now she understood they probably needed to keep their stories straight if the Ministry ever came knocking for one of them.

None of it mattered anymore, did it?

Diana furrowed her brow, staring at him in disbelief at his suggestion. “No. I wanted to see if you were alright.”

It might’ve been the way the moonlight rested against his features, but she swore his face softened before he forced it back into its standard pretension.

“I’m fine.” He spat, though his anger wasn’t directed at her. It was always so directionless, his anger. As if it was the only emotion he ever allowed himself to completely feel and so if he was mad at one thing, he was mad at everything.

“No, you’re not,” she mused, moving closer. “Moody shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, he shouldn’t have, but no matter. My father will be—”

“Hearing about this.” She finished with a small laugh.

And this time she knew it wasn’t the light. He watched her so intently, his expression unreadable, and she stared back, almost like a challenge. Daring him to speak whatever was running through that odd little head of his.

“Meet me later.” He said finally. Quietly. “At the Astronomy Tower.”

* * *

_September 16th, 1994… Again_

She couldn’t pinpoint when or what had kickstarted her attraction to Draco Malfoy. He was a sodding tool; she knew that well enough. His outdated views on Muggleborns and Muggles in general directly contradicted her own, sparking heated debate after heated debate, and still she found herself dragging her feet towards the Astronomy Tower for the last two weeks every time he asked. Whether by note or a purposeful tilt of the head, she listened, she understood, she followed suit.

If her friends knew… it was like she could hear their judgements, little devils perched on her shoulders with fascinated grins. Cersei, especially, was certain to have a field day if she ever found out; her hatred of Draco was so much more pointed and justified than whatever dislike she had for Harry Potter.

_Draco Malfoy? Of all the shits in the sea?_

But this, Diana decided, was for herself and herself alone. She didn’t need to tell anyone, and she doubted Draco wanted anyone to know either. She was perfectly fine keeping their… whatever-it-was a secret.

Scaling the stairs, she slowed her pace, keeping herself from looking like she’d done anything except take her time as she reached the top and saw him already waiting.

Draco was standing, his back against the railings and his stare focused on his shoes. Moonlight poured in over his head, placing a spotlight on his sleek hair and bathing the rest of his being in shadows. He looked… vulnerable.

“Did no one ever tell you it was impolite to stare?” he said, lifting his gaze to look at her. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

She rolled her eyes, moving to stand beside him. “I can’t stay for long today.”

“How come?”

“I have plans.”

“With who?”

“My friends.”

He bit the inside of his cheek, holding back whatever instinctive quip had presented itself. Diana wasn’t a fool; she knew he had his judgements. It was all the more reason to keep their friendship a secret.

“Right.” He said, his tone clipped.

Silence stretched into a strange awkwardness not typically found in their nightly conversations; Draco was talkative when you asked the right things.

“Question.” She said, shifting closer.

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do after Hogwarts?”

His answer was so thoughtless and instinctive; she couldn’t decide if she pitied or envied him. “Work for the Ministry with my father, of course.” He peered at her from the side curiously. “Why do you ask?”

“I’ve got OWLs this year, so I’ve been thinking about it.”

Dreading it was a better suited description. Conversations of the future made her anxiety rumble like the build-up of snare drums in a marching line; Her parents seldom failed to present themselves as flashing images in her skull with every beats and she held the battering sticks that slicked her palms with sweat whenever she gave it too much thought. Merlin, she might not know what she wanted to do, but she sure as hell knew what she wouldn’t ever become.

Casually, she wiped her hands on her robes.

“Have you ever thought of doing anything else?” She asked, trying to shoo away the looming caricatures of violence in her head.

Draco clicked his tongue indignantly. “Why would I need to?”

“But if you did.” She pressed. “What would you want to be?”

Concentration crumpled his features like paper, softening with a odd melancholy she’d never seen him express. He seemed to catch it, quickly covering whatever had caused the lapse in his facade with a typical Malfoy scowl. “There’s no sense in giving that any thought.”

“No,” she said quietly, her gaze cast towards the courtyard. “I suppose not.”

* * *

_September 17 th, 1994_

When Diana arrived in the Great Hall for lunch the following day, Luka was already inside, hunched over a roll of parchment and a familiar textbook—unsurprisingly. The level of homework their professors were beginning to assign as the term progressed was quickly becoming unbearable and yet somehow her friend was undeterred. As Diana took a seat across from her at the Ravenclaw table, Luka barely glanced up.

“Sorry,” she said, scribbling away. “Let me just finish this sentence.”

Diana shrugged and reached for a chicken leg. “Alright.”

Her attention drifted, settling on the Slytherin table as other students clamoured into their seats and pieced together meals for themselves. Honestly, she didn’t care for most of them; her feelings towards her House were convoluted at best and there was only one person she was looking for.

Draco was sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by the likes of Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. They were laughing—about what she didn’t know and somewhere, buried deep in her gut, Diana longed to know, and a knot of jealousy tied itself firmly around her, forcing her stare to remain where it was.

“Well now,” came a clear and sudden voice as Fred Weasley’s torso stepped into her line of sight. Either twin took a seat at Luka’s side, Fred grabbing at her textbook to read the cover. “What do we have here? Charms?”

“Where’s your other third?” George asked, reaching over Luka and taking the book. “Charms, indeed.”

Luka scrunched her nose. “She’s on her way. Can I have that back?”

Fred plucked the book back. “Say please.”

“Give it back to her.” Diana said, meeting Weasley’s daring eyes.

He fiddled with the book, turning the page and never dropping his stare from hers.

“I’d quite like to read it, actually.”

“You can read?”

“I could read to you some time, if you’d like.”

Her temple pulsed, annoyed as she squinted and reached across the table, trying to take the book. Fred pulled it back quickly and held it over his head.

“Don’t be a dick, Weasley.”

He flashed a wicked grin. “Afraid s’not something I can help, Diana.”

Her eyelid twitched, the sound of her first name rung in her ears. She briefly considered hexing him, her grip tightening around her wand, when George took the book with an amused sigh and slid it back to Luka.

“This is off to a great start.”

“Honestly.” Luka mumbled, shaking her head. “I just wanted my bloody book—oh, Cersei, you missed the fun.”

The said-Hufflepuff had come up the aisle, unseen from behind Diana, until she plopped down on the bench with a dramatic huff.

“What’s for lunch?” Cersei asked—though she was already reaching to fill her plate.

Luka neatly folded up her schoolwork and shoved everything into her bag. “Food, primarily.”

“Ha ha, you’re so fun-ee.”

“I’m sure I’ll be hilarious too next time you ask for the password to the Prefect’s bathroom.”

“Alright, alright, relax.” Cersei said, holding her hands up. “We’re here to talk numbers.”

Fred leant forward. “I’d actually prefer to talk about that password.”

At the turn of the conversation, Diana felt herself drifting again, distracted by nothing more than a sudden boredom and her attention sifted between different students beginning to leave the Great Hall. They were all motion blurs, triggers for expected car sickness—all except one.

Striding down the Slytherin table, his cronies at his side, Draco stared her down without pause and she saw it. The rise of his brows. The tilt of his head.

Later on, she’d be dragging herself back to the Astronomy Tower.

* * *

He wasn’t there when she arrived at the precise hour of 10 o’clock. The tower was empty, echoing the most minute of sounds as she placed herself at the railing overlooking the courtyard like she’d done nearly every night for the last two weeks.

Clouds shielded the stars from view and the moon was a simple sliver of pale light barely penetrating the darkness. She wished she could will it all away, have the constellations reveal themselves and their stories to her without interruption, but the clouds continued on. Oddly unbreakable in their unending march across the sky.

“What were you doing at lunch with those Weasels?”

Diana jumped, hitting her knee against the steel. The reverbs of the impact traced up her arms as she turned to see Draco watching her with the intensity of a prowling mountain lion finally spotting lonely prey in an open field. Steadying herself, Diana straightened her spine, aiming to speak, but he cut her off.

“It’s bad enough you already surround yourself with Crane and that mud—”

She took swift strides towards him, pulling her wand out from her robes and pointing it purposely at his chest. “Mind yourself when you talk about my friends.”

He eyed the wand, biting the insides of cheeks, nostrils flared. An irritated click of his tongue acted as a prefix to his words. “Fine.”

She held her stance for a second longer, her gaze flickering between him and her hand, before she dropped her would-be-weapon inside her pocket. Another second later and she was entirely relaxed, returning to her spot by the railings; her back to the sky.

“You didn’t answer me.” Draco said. He hadn’t moved any closer.

Diana sighed, ignoring the instinct to roll her eyes. “They’re helping us.”

“With what?”

“Selling.”

“Isn’t there someone else you could use?”

“Probably not,” she shrugged. “Merlin, Draco, why do you care so much?”

“I don’t.”

“Then why did you ask?”

Predictably, he sneered. Sneers and scowls were his favourite things to hide behind like a child who, without fail, always picked to tuck themself under the bed when they had a whole house of hideaways. “Because I can’t fathom how you can put up with such lowly company.”

“I told you to watch how you speak about friends.”

“I wasn’t talking about Crane or the mudbl—”

“Say it!” Diana shouted, stepping dangerously close to him. “Go ahead! Say it!”

He stilled. His only motions were the steady rise and fall of his chest. So close were they in proximity that she could feel his breath grazing her skin. He didn’t say anything. His focus never moved. All she asked from his friendship was respect. Why was that so difficult?

Pushing passed him, she moved to leave, managing to reach the edge of the staircase when he called for her.

“Diana.”

Despite herself, she spun around, opening her mouth to yell some more, but she was thrown by the exasperated look on his face. It drew dark creases between his brows and around his eyes. Stress, she thought, didn’t suit him.

“I’m—Merlin”—he dragged his hands down his pale skin—“I’m sorry. Happy?”

“That’s barely an apology.”

“Just…” His Adam’s apple bobbed. His eyes flickered around the tower. He continued with a whisper, “Just stay… Please.”

And in the sky behind them, a star shone through a crack in the clouds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip this one was a bit short but at least you know now what diana's been doing when she's not with her friends. next chapter follows cersei and goes more into what she's been dealing with.  
> anyways tho, thank you so much to everyone leaving comments like not to be soft on the main, it genuinely makes my day reading them 🥺🥺🥺 if any of you ever wanna send me a question or chat or whatever outside here, you can find me on tumblr (@lukawriting) or even instagram (@uhlocalghost)!  
> but yeah, i'll be back soon with another chapter. i'm trynna get ahead with writing right now since schools gonna be starting up for me in january. hope you enjoyed and as always, leave me your thoughts!


	5. October 30th, 1994

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as the triwizard tournament commences, cersei finds herself dealing with some unwanted emotions.

With the Weasley twins in tow, the girls had fallen into a comfortable step. The steady income flowing in from Gryffindor had increased their sales by thirty percent and that incline wasn't showing sign of plateau—especially after the notice for the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students went up. Students gathered around the sign like anxious worker bees to a hive, drifting away for a week with one overwhelming thought.

The Triwizard Tournament hadn't exactly slipped Cersei's mind; it was just that focusing on anything other than what was right in front of her was hard. Her increasing amount of assignments were merciless in their demand and each one that got done was primarily thanks to Diana and Luka forcing lengthy study periods on her. Nights before essays were due, the three of them would huddle in the library or in quiet corners of whatever common room they picked for the night and beat brand new quills down to dull stubs. Still, even with the encouragement that came with the presence of her friends, Cersei found herself cutting it too close—as she always did. Busy or not.

And it was no thanks to those late nights spent scribbling on ripped parchment and throwing paper airplanes across the room that she found Cedric invading her thoughts more often than she cared to admit. When she caught glimpses of herself in the library windows and saw the tired look on her face, she remembered clearly the way stress had coloured dark shadows under his eyes and drawn out deep yawns from his mouth every few minutes. He hadn't worn stress well; she didn't think she did either.

Would he have whisked her away if they were together? The way she had for him? Would they be spending more evenings in the empty Quidditch stands?

She huffed, shoving the question so deep into her skull, it became an unmarked grave.

_I dumped him,_ she reminded herself as she exited the Hufflepuff common room. _I broke up with him._

Students brushed by her, animatedly speaking about the arriving guests as they hobbled up the stairs. She found Diana waiting at the bottom and the two moved their way through together.

"The party should be next Saturday," Diana said as they reached the main floor. "We don't know how many other kids are coming. We could use the time to get everything ready."

Cersei shrugged, spotting Luka through the crowd and throwing up a peace sign. "As long as there _is_ a party."

"Edgecomb's been trying to go through my shit again," the Ravenclaw said, an obvious hint of annoyance in her voice, as she joined her friends.

"The alarm went off?" Diana asked.

"The drawers were screaming when I was up there just now." She shook her head. "Could one of you hide my share for me? I just know one of these days she's gonna get in there, the nosey twat."

"Who's a nosey twat?"

Cersei turned her head to look, finding the grinning faces of the Weasley twins—though she couldn't have been sure which had spoken—and Lee Jordan. They stared expectantly, shuffling forward as the Heads of Houses tried and failed to organize everyone.

Luka glanced back. "Who do you think?"

"Edgecomb again?" Fred said.

"Yup."

"It'd be a damn shame if someone gave her a Nose Biting Teacup." George said with the tone of someone who would definitely be slipping Marietta Edgecomb more than a Nose Biting Teacup in the coming days.

"I _better_ have misheard you, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall warned as they passed her by the entrance. "I will not have you harassing our guests! Now fix your tie."

"I wasn't referring to the guests!"

The older witch wagged a single finger. "Do not make me give you detention!"

Outside, first years were being herded to the front. The group settled somewhere in the middle, where everyone was much too close for comfort in Cersei's humble opinion.

"I can hide your stuff for you." she said, trying to distract herself from her growing claustrophobia.

Luka gave a relieved sigh. "Thanks. I'll bring everything after the feast." A thought seemed to pass over as the words left her mouth. She looked around curiously in search of an answer. "Do we know who's entering yet?"

"We are." Fred said proudly. Beside him, Lee Jordan was beaming.

"We're splitting the money three ways if one of us wins."

Diana snorted, voicing Cersei's exact thoughts. "Good luck with that."

"How kind of you." Fred said, putting his hands mockingly over his heart.

She mocked his actions. "How stupid of you."

"We heard Pretty Boy Diggory's entering." George mentioned offhandedly, a lingering bitterness weaved into the nickname.

Cersei pretended not to feel the anger instinctively ignited in her stomach. She pretended not notice the concerned looks aimed at her. The only clue to the brewing anger was the flex of her hands as her knuckles strained and popped. Her eyes focused straight ahead as Dumbledore announced the incoming arrival of the Beauxbatons students, watching as dots appeared in the sky, closing in at startling speeds. The horse-drawn carriage soared and settled roughly on the grounds, making Neville jump back on Diana's foot. She'd never been so appreciative for the kindly Gryffindor's clumsiness.

"Course Cedric's entering," Cersei said sarcastically, feigning amusement when Neville had finally finished with his perfuse apologies. _He's Hufflepuff's Golden Boy._

* * *

Cersei found she wasn't at all hungry for the first and second feast. Whatever she did eat was to keep the worried glances from her friends at bay and, quite frankly, it was starting to annoy her. Diana had tried to pry her mouth open for an ounce of honesty as if it'd spill out like oil or some bullshit, but the efforts were useless. Cersei wasn't going to talk.

At least not yet. Or ever. She hadn't made a decision. The assumption was never.

She sat alone at the end of the Hufflepuff table the night after the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. The importance of the evening called for the professors to split the girls up, placing them at their designated House tables and for the first time, Cersei was glad for McGonagall's shrill orders. Whoever was selected as Hogwarts Champion, she wanted to be alone—or as alone as she could be for the inevitable announcement.

Cedric, on the other hand, was surrounded. Noise enveloped him, the chatter of excited voices creating a barrier around she couldn't penetrate. There was so much distance between them and she hated herself for noticing.

_I'm breaking up with you._

_What? Why? Have I done something wrong?_

Had he done anything wrong? She didn't think it mattered anymore and even if it did, the knife stabbing her gut didn't dull and the wound in her gut didn't keep from bleeding out. Apparently, she wasn't as thick skinned as she'd like to believe.

And then Dumbledore stood and the Great Hall, for all its fiery flickering candles, went dark and cold with the single sweep of a wrinkled hand and all Cersei could see was the Goblet of Fire; the blazing light at the end of a tunnel threatening to cave in.

_Don't let it be Cedric. Don't let it be Cedric._

There were quiet gasps as the flames of Goblet turned red. Sparks flew like a firework on New Year's, shooting up towards the ceiling. A single piece of parchment drifted down like ashes. The newfound silence was unending.

"The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum."

She exhaled, extinguishing the burning sensation in her lungs.

Until it happened again. More fire. More sparks. More ashes.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"

There was no relief this time. Her breath remained held. The Goblet went red. Only one more school left. The sparks soared high above their heads. Only one champion more. Dumbledore took hold of the parchment.

More ashes. More ashes. More ashes.

_Not Cedric._

"The Hogwarts Champion is…"

_Please. Please don't let it be Cedric._

"…Cedric Diggory."

The Hufflepuff table erupted in joyous screams. Everyone jumped to their feet, shooting up as the Goblet of Fire had. They patted their Golden Boy on the back, issued their congratulations, shoved him happily to the front of the room.

Cersei didn't move.

She sat motionless. Still holding her breath despite the desperate please in her chest to just let something out, and her hands were fists; nails dug so deep in her palms, she was sure she'd broken through skin despite all the pain being in her chest.

Her stare followed him. Watched as his grin shone brightly enough to disguise the anxious vein throbbing in his forehead. Watched as he slapped every celebratory high-five despite the tremble in his fingers. Watched as he nodded proudly to Professor Sprout and ignored his pestering insecurities.

As his hand took hold of the doorknob and pushed open the door leading to the chamber behind the teacher's table, the prideful illusion vanished. His shoulders slumped. His head turned. He looked to Cersei and found her looking back.

And then the door shut. He was gone, and whatever happened after, Cersei didn't stick around to watch.

* * *

Luka and Diana found her sitting in her dorm with Henry the parakeet later that evening. The bird was perched on her head, pulling at strands of her hair with his typical subtle air of annoyance. As if Cersei or her hair had disrespected him in some way in a past life. Usually she'd fearfully wave her hand for him to stop and he'd squawk or bite, but she couldn't be bothered. As her friends recounted what she missed when she left the Great Hall, Henry remained on her head.

"Of course, Potter somehow got chosen," she mumbled bitterly. "What the hell is so special about Potter?"

Diana raised her brows high and blew out some air. "I wish someone would tell me."

"Why would he even enter?" Luka said, absently picking at the bedsheets.

"Because he's desperate for attention." Cersei fumed. "Apparently him and Cedric just don't get enough."

His name had tumbled out thoughtlessly, evoking silence like a spell; it smothered her as it had in the Great Hall. The silence wrapped tightly around her head like a plastic bag, suffocating her and disturbing any faint sense of peace she'd scraped together since Cedric's name had echoed like the remnants of a nightmare.

"Do you want to, um, talk about it?" Luka asked tentatively. "Or do you want a distraction?"

Cersei didn't hesitate. "A distraction."

Though the Slytherin third of the trio side-eyed Cersei's avoidance, Diana still reached into her robes and pulled out a joint.

* * *

Despite her hallucinations of Henry turning into a dragon and green lights zipping around the room like she'd seen once at a Muggle party, Cersei could hear the constant cheering coming from the common room. Even after Luka had cast a noise-proofing charm on the dorm, the notes carried—or maybe she was hallucinating that too. Even so, as she laid in her bed, her friends passed out at the base, she swore she heard a stadium of people chant his name.

_Cedric, Cedric, Cedric!_

She'd had enough. Her attempts to fucking sleep were pointless and her distinct need to be petty grew with every inconsiderate minute. Pulling herself off the bed, Cersei tiptoed out of her dorm and stormed towards the common room with all the roaring rage of a honey badger.

The crowd was thick, everyone gleaming with drunken pride as music swelled around them. She stood firmly at the threshold, scanning the faces of her fellow students until her glare locked on a dark head of hair. As if Cersei had the power to part seas, their eyes met through an uninterrupted space in the crowd.

There it was. The anxious vein cutting across the smooth skin of his forehead.

She tilted her head to the dorms, beckoning him to follow. When he moved in her direction, she led the familiar path to his dorm and let herself in.

For a minute, she was alone. Not much had changed since the last time she saw it.

Cedric's space was neat. The bed made. Pillows fluffed. Sheets smoothed. Cersei stood idly by the dresser, trying to pick apart some sort of change.

Were there more picture frames? New memories she wasn't welcomed or invited into?

The pictures seemed unaware of her as they moved. His mother smiled broadly in one and in another his father affectionately ruffled Cedric's hair. There was more of his cousins, aunts and uncles, appearing to be just as happy—but in the back, pushed furthest away, was one frame turned towards the wall.

She reached for it. The tips of her fingers grazed the wooden frame.

"What is it?"

Cersei wrenched her arm back, twisting to see Cedric standing awkwardly by the door. His tie was uncharacteristically loosened around his neck and his skin was flushed as if he'd been drinking. She'd so obviously barged in on his celebration. A celebration she didn't have a right to attend anymore.

For the first time since the breakup, she felt it was no one's fault but her own.

"What is it?" she repeated, pushing through the evolving guilt. She honed in on the anger, the worry, the fear. "People die in this tournament!"

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You heard Dumbledore… It's safer than it was."

"That doesn't actually mean safe."

"Cersei—"

"Why would you even enter?" she snapped, unable to stop herself. "Who are you trying to impress? Your dad? Is that what this is about?"

Cedric's jaw clenched. He tried to keep his tone even, but it shook like the beginnings of an earthquake. "Hogwarts needed a champion. I thought that could be me."

"And why did that have to be you?"

"Why couldn't it be me?"

"People have _died_ in this tournament!"

"I'm sorry, but how does anything I do concern you anymore?"

Cersei paused; her teeth clamped down on the inside of her cheeks. Rage seeped into her pores. She stared unblinking at the boy she once thought golden.

"Fine. You know what, never mind. You're right." She said, shoving passed him. "Get yourself killed. It's none of my business. Prick."

"Cersei—"

"I hope this makes your dad proud."

Whatever he said after, Cersei didn't stick around to listen. She went back to her dorm, laid back in her bed and slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip i havent updated in a hot minute. my family and i are moving so thats kind of just eaten up all of my time :(  
> hopefully when things settle down, i can back to writing consistently but yeah, as always, leave me your thoughts and opinions!!


	6. November 7th, 1994

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> luka reveals something to the twins.

There was something going on with both her friends. Subtle changes she’d made tiny notes on in the recessives of her brain that went beyond circumstances Luka knew about. Cersei’s annoyance was something more than Cedric; there was an internal shift. Something reflective, she thought considering Cersei’s ill-fitted silence during study breaks when she’d usually balance pencils on her nose or see how many paper planes she could have float over her head. And Diana’s newfound happiness was just… by Merlin, it was just something more. Rather than stray away from the Slytherin common room, she was gravitating towards it. Even suggesting it as a place for the trio to hang out.

She imagined the incidents eliciting Diana’s sublime and Cersei’s irritation were uninvolved; the two were still hanging around each other, but it wasn’t something Luka hadn’t considered before it struck her as ridiculous. She would’ve known if a singular event involved both of them.

As she waited in the emptier-than-usual Hufflepuff common room, waving her wand over her charmed stereo, she couldn’t help but wish she had her own secret to keep. Simply observing everything was starting to bore her. She was afraid it’d be all she ever did.

“Oh, I’m getting absolutely fucked up tonight,” she mumbled as the stereo came to life, ignoring the curious looks from the few others around. ~~~~

Behind her, the common room door opened. The sound of bottles clanking announced the arrival of the twins—it’d taken Cersei some convincing to give them the password—and Luka turned, a small grin on her face, to greet them.

“Shots?” she said, holding her hand out for the firewhisky. One would do well to settle her nerves; they still clenched around George. She could barely even bring herself to consider him a friend for fear of overestimating any interaction.

Fred threw her a bottle which she rushed to catch. “Getting ahead of yourself there, are you?”

“I deserve it.” She said and transfigured a nearby plant into a glass. “Silenced this whole room and rigged the music.”

George plopped into a chair, laying out every ounce of alcohol they’d gotten. “Impressive. Could you pour one for me too?”

She could feel a pinch of heat in her cheeks, thankful she could throw her head back as she took her first shot, rendering it unseen. She poured George his own and passed the glass.

“How’d—damn, that burns—How’d it go with Beauxbatons?” she asked, glancing briefly at his jawline as his neck stretched and sat on the armrest of the couch opposite. She was already feeling the need for another shot.

“Well enough.” George mused, smacking his lips together.

“That Fleur—woo. She is _something,_ ” Fred said. “Might try my luck if she shows.”

Luka had to agree. The champion for Beauxbatons was _something_. Anyone with eyes could see that. Rumours of her being part Veela had spread like wildfire across a dry field since the visiting schools had arrived, sparking a dreadful amount of jealousy in the many of the other girls including Luka herself. Her own green monster, however, was much more mild; she just wished she looked like Fleur. Being that beautiful would absolutely burn a handful of her insecurities to ashes.

Luka shook her head, chuckling at his foolishness. “Poor girl probably just wants to have fun and Fred Weasley’s already got plans to harass her.”

There was a moment of laughter, but only a moment before the twins fell silent, exchanging strange looks between each other. Luka adjusted herself awkwardly. Had she said something wrong? Were they not close enough for her to poke fun at them yet? This was why she kept from thinking they were friends. Her head continued to spin with anxiety-driven questions as her hand reached up to her lips to peel the dried flakes of skin off.

Fred mumbled something.

“What was that?” she asked tentatively.

“That was a lucky gue—“

“How’d you know he’s Fred?” George said.

He was staring at her with a newfound consideration, drawing closer until he was sitting at the very edge of the couch.

“I can tell you two apart? It’s not hard.” Luka said. “Did you not realize?”

Fred snorted. “That’s complete bollocks. No, you can’t.”

“I definitely can, Fredrick, and I’m not the only one.”

“Yeah? Who else then?”

“Diana.”

His eyebrow twitched. His curiosity peaked. “Prove it.”

“Alright,” she said, “When her and Cersei get back, you two can shuffle yourselves like cards, change your clothes, whatever the fuck you want, and we’ll prove it.”

* * *

“Hey!” Luka said as her friends came through the door with platters of food taken from the kitchen. “How’d it go with Durmstrang?”

Cersei moved her eyebrows up and down, smirking. “How do you think it went?”

“Stop.” Diana said, and then looked to Luka. “Most of them should show up.”

The Ravenclaw nodded, moving away from the couch and towards the entrance to the dorms. “Great.”

“What are you doing?”

Luka peered down the hall, towards the twins who were doing what they could to mess up their appearances. Fred shouted as soon as he spotted her.

“No cheating!”

“I’m not!”

“What’s going on?” Cersei asked, setting the food near the alcohol on the table and wrapping her hand around an open bottle.

“The wankers don’t think Diana and I can tell them apart.”

George’s voice echoed into the common room. “There’s no need for name calling!”

“Hurry up!”

“What the bloody hell are they even doing?” Diana asked, helping Cersei pour out a round of shots for everyone.

“Trying to see if they can trick us.” Luka said, joining her friends. “When they come out, just point out Fred, I’ll point out George, and we’ll both hope they’ll accept that they can’t pull any switcher-oos on us.”

“Alright, we’re coming! Close your eyes!”

She could barely hear their footsteps with the number of people now flowing into the common room. Dinner must’ve been wrapped up. Within the hour, they could expect students from other Houses to arrive and then their guests of honour. Most of Hogwarts’ students understood the drill, but many seldom erred on the side of caution; hopefully the handful of trusted prefects could keep any professors at bay from noticing swarms headed near the kitchens.

“Alright girls, now you can look.”

Without a single glance, Luka was sure it had been Fred who’d said that with the way his pitched lowered to something trying to be playfully suggestive. George, she noticed, wasn’t nearly as bold with flirtation.

She snorted. “Now I don’t want to.”

“Agreed.” Diana said from beside her.

“Don’t lie to yourselves like that.”

Luka opened her eyes, blinking spots out of her visions and then settling on the twins. They must’ve drunken a potion because neither of their heads sprouted orange hair anymore. One was coloured blue and the other pink, and pieces of their clothes had been switched. Still, Luka knew which was which.

She looked to Diana, who looked to her, before they looked to the twins and pointed.

“George.”

“Fred.”

Luka was so confident in her answer, she stood and approached them, inspecting George’s hair. “That’s a really nice shade. How’d you do it?”

Diana nodded. “Yeah, the pink too. It’s quite nice.”

The twins were quiet, squinting, as if they were deciding how to respond, but then the corners of their lips started to twitch and bright smiles erupted across their faces. Fred threw an arm around Luka’s neck, putting her in a choke hold.

“How’d you do it? C’mon, what gave it away?”

She tried and failed to get away. “You’re ridiculous, let me go!”

“Let her go, Freddie!” George took her by the arm, freeing her from his brother, but she was foolish to think she’d get off so easy. Wrapping his own arm around her, George trapped her and led her towards the couch. She was much less inclined to fight then. “But seriously, what gave it away?”

“Just, um,” she said, desperately trying to form a thought. Somewhere nearby, she could hear her friends laughing.

“What are you two giggling about? Huh?” Fred said, jumping over the couch and landing beside the Slytherin.

“You because you’re stupid!” There wasn’t nearly as much bite as usual in her voice.

George grinned at Luka still struggling for words. “Sound it out, Dyer.”

In her head, her answer sounded smooth. Intelligent, even, but what came out of her mouth was an awkward stumble. “That’s, um, that’s for me to know and just for, um, for you to find out, I suppose.”

Thankfully, he laughed, dropping them on the empty couch opposite the others.

“What about you, Crane?” Fred said, leaning forward. “Can you do it too?”

Cersei huffed loudly, eyes wide. “Have to be honest, the different hair helps a lot.” She clapped her hands and diverted their attention to the table. “Now, let’s go. Everyone, grab a shot. We’ve got to bribe the younger kids soon.”

 _Right._ Luka ran her hand over the coin purse in her pocket. She’d nearly forgotten about that. Thankfully, however, the youngest Hufflepuffs were consistently the most cooperative of all the Houses. There were a few troublesome seeds that took an extra bit of watering, but they relented with a few promises and galleons.

“We could slip them some puking pasties. That’d work quicker.”

“Yeah, then you could clean all the vomit.” Diana said plainly, taking the shot glass Cersei offered her.

“And inevitably deal with Professor Sprout.” Luka added.

“Anyways!” Cersei held up her glass and everyone else did the same. “Cheers!”

Together, they clinked their glasses and felt the burn of firewhisky headed straight for their stomachs as the common room door opened and welcomed even more students carrying their own bottles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay let me be honest: this was such a struggle to write and it shows.  
> this is mostly just a fun transitional chapter between cersei's and the welcoming party so it's less jarring of a read. i promise the next one will be both longer and better (i pinky promise)  
> but yeah, as always, please leave me your thoughts/questions/critiques (it always gives me a good dose of serotonin)


	7. November 7th, 1994 Cont.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and so the welcoming party begins.

Diana expected some snide comments about Magic Cap as smoke billowed over the tops of everyone’s heads like mushroom hats and dissipated, but they never came. The Durmstrang students took deep huffs over and over while some of the Beauxbatons students took much more sophisticated drags; both parties were openly impressed.

“And where may we buy zis after?” a petite Beauxbatons boy asked.

“Either from me or,” she pointed out Luka and Cersei who were taking a shots break nearby, “Or them.”

“Or us!” said Fred from behind her.

She rolled her eyes. “Or them.”

The Beauxbaton boy nodded, drifting off with his friends into the crowd. Diana didn’t linger, turning and already scouting for any strange faces she hadn’t spoken to yet—whilst keeping a careful eye on her drunken friends.

“How come you’re not drinking?” George asked, following her wary glances as Cersei took to flirting with one of the crossfaded Durmstrang boys and Luka shook her head, pouring out another drink for herself into a transfigured red solo cup.

How much had that girl had to drink already? Whatever it was, Diana was certain it was already enough.

“Yeah, lose a coin toss or something?” Fred added in.

“No,” she said plainly. “It’s my turn to be the designated mum.”

“You take turns?”

“Most of the time.”

“That’s shit.”

She rubbed gently at her temple, predicting a grave headache in her future as images of herself herding her friends and flipping off Fred rolled back and forth in her head. “Just go do your jobs.”

For a moment she expected a snappy one liner or a childish prode; instead Fred winked.

“As you wish.”

She swore her eyes were bound to get stuck with how often she rolled them in Weasley’s company. Sure, she’d been in favour of partnering with the twins, but she hadn’t taken into consideration how easy it was for one half of the duo to get under her skin. Fred Weasley could just breathe around her and somehow he’d find a way to make it annoying.

Maneuvering through the crowd, Diana set her thoughts aside, approaching her friends and immediately stealing Luka’s empty cup out of her hand. Pulling her wand out, she mumbled a quick _Aquamenti_ —a spell the entire trio had learnt for the very purpose of staying hydrated at parties—and watched it fill with water.

She handed it back. “Here.”

“Thanks, I’m fuckin’ parched.” Luka said, her true Cockney accent peaking through. Diana never understood why she covered her real voice most of the time. “I could really go for a pizza right now. You think them House-elves would make me one?”

Diana shrugged. “Maybe.”

“All they make’s fuckin’ puddings and shit—I mean I appreciate it and I fully—I fully support that House-elf rights stuff Granger’s been spewing, but I’m so tired of those fancy esquire shit. I want a damn burger.”

“If you asked, they probably—“

The weight of a hand on her shoulder cut her off. Cersei had properly rejoined them having lost all interest in the Durmstrang boy.

“What’s Weasley doing on the table?”

Diana turned to look, spotting the ginger twat without difficulty. He was, as Cersei had said, standing on a table in the centre of the common room, smoking a fat joint and blowing rings into the air.

“We’re selling the best shit!” he shouted. “Just two galleons! Don’t be shy!”

On the floor, George was collecting coins and drawing baggies from his pockets to give out to paying customers. The more hesitant consumers were calling up to Fred and he willfully allowed them to take drags from his joint as if it were a free sample. She had to admit it was an effective sales tactic.

“They’re good.” Cersei remarked.

Luka snorted. “And you were worried.”

“Ooh, I still am.”

From his place on the table, Fred scanned the room, narrowing in on Diana. His grin grew three times its size and he cupped his hands around his mouth to shout, “I’m doing my job!”

For a third time that night, she rolled her eyes except this time she couldn’t help the smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. She hoped he couldn’t see it from where he was otherwise she was sure he’d dangle it over her head at any given opportunity.

“Who the fuck invited Malfoy?” Cersei said suddenly, completely ripping Diana’s attention away as she looked between her friends.

She tried to keep herself unreadable, only casually glancing at the mention of his name as her insides rattled with excitement. Of course there he was standing at the entrance of the common room. Examining the crowd, she was sure he was searching for somebody he could tolerate for longer than a minute. Something or someone to explain his out-of-place presence to the few students still lucid enough to notice, and for a second, he seemed to spot her.

She was the one who told him to come. Offered it up like a chance to be seen together in a place that wasn’t hidden away. She thought even a conversation in front of everyone would’ve gone a long way.

Draco made a sharp left into the crowd, away from her.

“And who fuckin’ invited Edgecomb?” Luka said, providing Diana with the distraction she needed from her growing pains.

“Edgecomb’s here? Don’t tell me that—”

“Cho. Yeah, that’s Cho.”

The shift in Cersei was subtle—the slightest slant of her eyes—but the energy surrounding her became overwhelmingly tense quickly. Diana shifted away a bit, afraid she get caught in the crossfire, and as her friends watched their rivals move around the room, she found her attention drift elsewhere.

Draco had found a spot with some Durmstrang students against the wall. They seemed to be chatting as best as they could over the music, and he seemed engaged enough to avoid any overbearing curiosity from other students who were already refocusing their attention. Still, she could feel his gaze flicking to her.

If she left, he would be sure to follow. A small fire burned in her stomach at the thought, cauterizing the wounds from his initial cowardice. She liked knowing that at least he’d follow.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom!” she shouted to her friends over the music.

“You need to go? Okay, we’ll go with you!” Cersei said.

Diana shook her head. “It’s okay! You guys stay here! I’ll find you when I get back!”

“You sure?” Luka asked, staring curiously. Diana tried to remain unbothered.

“Yeah! Hold my drink! I’ll be back!”

* * *

The room was beginning to come into focus and Cersei took this as her cue to drink more. She needed something to numb the anger pricking at her backside. Invites to parties were a hard thing to control at Hogwarts, she knew that. Everyone was certain to tell whoever they wanted, but the appearance of Cho Chang—knowing Cedric was somewhere in the room too—had awaken the newfound urge to drown herself in firewhisky.

Luka was looking back and forth from Diana as she walked away and some other point in the common room. “Do you—Do you think Diana’s seeing Malfoy?”

The idea alone make Cersei cringe. She kissed her teeth, stretching to see passed the hoards of people. “Ew, no… Do you think Cedric invited her?”

“Cho?” Luka hesitated. “I mean, he could’ve… but he’s not stupid, is he?”

She chewed at her bottom lip, unwilling to answer. No, he wasn’t stupid, but…

_I’m sorry, but how does anything I do concern you anymore?_

If their fight the other night had told her anything, it was that he was moving on and she was an idiot to believe he’d chase her—not that she wanted him to. They were broken up. She’d broken up with him. How many times did she have to remind herself of that before it sunk in?

Why was it so hard to accept he’d found someone else?

Merlin, if she could cast a spell to split a path through everybody, she would just to see the moment those two found each other in the mass of people. Would he greet Cho like he’d been expecting her? Or would he feign surprise at her appearance? Cersei almost found it funny that she knew even then he’d feign nothing; his surprise would be genuine. And despite her muscles tensing and her heart quietly aching, she could picture his shocked smile because he would’ve handed his invite out to Cho without really believing she’d show. He was too modest for expectations and his own good.

Cersei knew him too well. Of course she knew it was him who invited her, but even the acceptance of that belief couldn’t prepare her for the brutal reality of finally spotting Cedric sitting so close to Cho, leaning even closer to say something in her ear. He looked so lively. Even from where Cersei stood, she could see the creases around his eyes—the ones he got when he smiled completely.

He used to look at her that way.

“What’s today?” Cersei asked, catching Luka by surprise.

“What? Oh, um, the 7th!”

A dull pain ripped through her heart, her head throbbed with a newfound sensitivity to the volume of the room. Why couldn’t he have waited a little longer to find somebody?

She’d picked him a year and a day ago, and now they stood at opposite ends of a room, the remnants of a premature breakup littered in the space between. In a few more days, they could’ve celebrated their first year together—could’ve.

She had to remind herself of that keyword because something else could’ve ruined them. Something else could’ve gotten in their way, and those three words that’d come out of Cedric’s mouth would’ve tasted of as much regret as they likely did now. If it hadn’t been her doing, it would’ve been something else.

Nobody stays with the person they dated as a teenager. She had to keep reminding herself of that single glaring truth.

Yet still, as she looked to him then across the room, suffocated on a couch with his arm draped over Cho’s shoulders, Cersei couldn’t help the frustrated breath she let out. She didn’t care. She’d told herself she didn’t care anymore, and yet watching his eyes light up in the dark as Cho leaned over to whisper something back in his ear, she swore she felt her heart split like an earthquake destroying concrete foundations and turning entire buildings into rumble.

She bit hard on her lip and spotted an empty bottle. Plucking it off the table, she took Luka by the wrist and pulled her through the crowd to a spot near that cursed couch where some of their guests had gathered. If she had to watch him move on, then he could watch her try to do the very same.

* * *

All her mother’s cautionary tales on the dangers of alcohol and drugs were just that: tales. Legends and fables about their family’s history with addiction that Luka could barely recall as the remaining droplets of water slid down her tongue and into her throat. As a child, she’d always taken those lectures to heart though she didn’t understand why. To be quite frank, Luka loved being drunk.

With a brain like hers that took hold of ideas like a baton and ran a never-ending circuit with them, alcohol was a finish line. She could barely feel her limbs or hear her thoughts as she followed behind Cersei to a sitting area at the side of the room.

Luka felt free. Unstoppable. Absolutely uninhibited.

“Do you guys want to play Spin the Bottle?” Cersei asked a group of what looked like both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. Luka could only tell because she recognized the sleek blond hair belonging to Fleur Delacour. The others were a blur of indistinguishable outlines, some burlier than others, spinning alongside the room, but still Luka raised her hand proudly.

“I do.”

“Zis is what you play at ‘Ogwarts?” Fleur said, laughing a bit. She glanced between the two girls and her surrounding company, lingering on Luka for a short second. “Fine. I will play.”

Whoever else was joining, she barely paid attention. She only knew to take a seat as the circle opened up and everyone moved over to make space for each other.

Cersei took the first turn and then the room became a zoetrope; flashing images of the bottle spinning, people standing, people kissing, and the cycle repeating itself without Luka ever having to move. The bottle wasn’t landing on her, but Cersei had already gone a handful of times. Each time, Luka noticed her eyes flick off to the side and even absolutely pissed, Luka knew Cedric had to be somewhere in that direction.

Whether or not he was looking back, she had no idea and it wasn’t for lack of checking either. She twisted her head and stretched her neck, but the combination of blurred vision and dim lights didn’t work in her favour.

She did however notice two ginger figures cutting their way towards her, so she waved.

“Dyer, you didn’t invite us?” George shouted as they got closer.

“I didn’t? Well, shit—I mean, you jus’, yous weren’ even ‘ere!”

Fred squinted. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Wha’s wrong with your face?” she shot back. “Jus’ sit down! Join, you twats! C’mon, sit!”

“Bloody hell, alright! Sure are eager, aren’t you?” George put a hand on her shoulder and took the seat beside her. “How much did you drink?”

Luka tried counting off her fingers. “Maybe seven—no, nine—ah, fook if I know!”

While both twins laughed, her focus remained solely on George. She leant forward a bit, suddenly bolder than she ever could be sober. “You’ve got a nice laugh.”

His eyes widened slightly. “What?”

“You’ve got a nice laugh,” she repeated. “I like it.”

It looked as if he had something to say, but the volume of the circle interrupted whatever thought he planned to slip out as Fred brushed off a Durmstrang student and grabbed the bottle.

“Let me have a go!” he shouted. “I need to catch up!”

Rather than spinning the thing, however, he simply tapped it enough for it to land on Fleur.

“Zat is not ‘ow you play zese game.” She said utterly unimpressed.

“There’s no rules on how to spin it.”

“No? Zen zere are no rules on ‘ow one is to kiss.” Barely pecking the tips of her fingers, she blew all of Fred’s unlikely chances away. “Now I shall go, and since you say zere is no rules on ‘ow to spin”—she pulled out her wand from her pocket—“I shall do it like zis.”

Fleur grabbed the bottle, her slim fingers barely touching the bottle as she twisted it and let go with the flick of her wrist. It spun and spun and spun, and Luka’s head spun with it, waiting to see where it landed. She blinked as it went, the mouth circling the group, skipping over a Durmstrang boy, skipping over a Durmstrang girl, skipping over Fred, skipping over George and suddenly stopping on Luka.

She stared, the room falling into crisp focus and then blurring once again. She looked up to see Fleur waiting expectantly, an eyebrow arched perfectly and a small bit of magic fading from the tip of her wand.

The drunken Ravenclaw pointed to herself. “Me?”

“It is pointing to you, no?”

Luka looked to Cersei, who was just as stunned—if not, more.

“Hold this.” She said, passing her empty cup and standing, watching as Fleur moved around the table to her.

If she were sober, she thought she might be nervous as impatient stares stabbed at her like thorns but she wasn’t. She’d never kissed anyone before and that didn’t seem to matter because she was free. Unstoppable.

Absolutely uninhibited.

And then, just like that, she was kissing Fleur Delacour.

Luka tried not to think too hard on what she was doing, only vaguely aware of her hand on the side of Fleur’s neck and the intense volume of the people around them—which she assumed meant she was doing alright. She could hear the twins hollering and Cersei’s encouragements, and time was just a combination of irrelevant numbers. Luka had never kissed anyone before and yet she was sure this was what it was supposed to feel like.

A clear thought sprang to the forefront of her brain: _You like kissing girls_. In that second of space, she never felt more sober, icy chills crawling up her spine like someone had dumped freezing water over her head, and in that second of hesitation, Fleur pulled away, seemingly unaware of the deafening silence happening inside Luka’s body.

_You like kissing girls._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't have much to add here other than jk r*wling didn't write any queer characters so i'm doing it myself  
> anyways, as always, hope you enjoyed that chapter and be sure to leave me your thoughts/comments!   
> stay safe :)


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